Visa is now an investor in African fintech Moniepoint, aiming to promote financial inclusion and support SMEs across Africa.
Moniepoint confirmed to TechCrunch that it received a “strategic investment” from the global payments giant.
Deal highlights
- Investment details: Sources say Moniepoint, which raised $110 million last October, secured over $10 million from Visa. The fintech’s Series C now exceeds $120 million.
- Future funding: Moniepoint is reportedly in talks with more investors and may attract further funding while maintaining its billion-dollar valuation.
Moniepoint’s offerings
- Provides banking accounts, credit, payments, and other financial tools.
- Processes over 1 billion transactions monthly, with payment volumes reaching $22 billion—a 25% growth in under three months.
- Benefited from Nigeria’s Central Bank cashless drive in early 2023.
Nigeria’s digital payment market
- Worth approximately $400 billion in 2023, dominated by electronic transfers.
- Moniepoint operates across multiple channels, including electronic transfers, ATMs, POS devices, and mobile agents.
- Visa’s investment underscores Moniepoint’s potential in Nigeria’s card value chain as a major issuer and acquirer.
CEO Tosin Eniolorunda on the partnership
- “With Visa as our investor, we can strategically collaborate to grow the payment ecosystem and expand to more countries.”
- Focus on contactless payments: The partnership aims to introduce contactless payments, supported by Nigeria’s Central Bank.
Global context
- Visa notes that contactless card usage surpasses mobile wallets in many markets.
- Moniepoint plans to leverage Visa’s Cybersource system and integrate with Visa Direct for remittances and money transfers.
Visa’s commitment to Africa
- Visa has invested in Africa’s payment infrastructure, including Interswitch, Flutterwave, Paystack, and JUMO.
- The investment in Moniepoint marks Visa’s entry into Nigeria’s SME market.
Board addition
- Visa will join Moniepoint’s board, alongside other prominent backers like Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, QED Investors, and British International Investment (BII).
Looking ahead
- Moniepoint aims to lead Nigeria’s transition to contactless payments and expand its services within and outside Africa.
This investment by Visa highlights the growing importance of digital payments in Africa and Moniepoint’s pivotal role in shaping the future of financial services on the continent.
Source: Techcrunch
